Use Your Manners: Metro-North Urges Riders To Give Seats To Those In Need

Train riders who are disabled, elderly or pregnant can wear this button to urge other passengers to offer up a seat.Photo Credit: MTATrain riders who are pregnant can wear this button to urge other passengers to offer up a seat.Photo Credit: MTA

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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. – Metro-North and the MTA are hoping to help train riders brush up on their manners with a new campaign aimed helping fellow passengers in need.

The pilot program, which began on Mother’s Day and runs through Labor Day, will examine ways to encourage courtesy by helping riders easily identify fellow customers with specialized needs like pregnant riders, seniors and passengers with disabilities who need a seat.

“Pregnant riders, seniors and those with disabilities often need seats more than others but their condition may not always be visible,” MTA Interim Executive Director Ronnie Hakim said in a statement. "We hope this campaign will help their fellow riders to be more willing to offer them a seat without having to ask a personal question first."

Customers who are pregnant can choose from a “Baby on Board” button or a “Please Offer Me a Seat” courtesy button, which can also be worn by customers who have disabilities and seniors who choose to wear them.

The MTA will distribute buttons throughout the system and the initiative will be integrated into existing courtesy campaigns via transit system advertisements and social media.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has launched a new awareness campaign to encourage customers to move their feet and offer a seat for pregnant riders, seniors and those with a disability, who are seeking seats.

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MTA already provides disabled customers “priority seating” on buses and trains; while riders are required to relinquish seats in those areas under federal regulations and MTA rules of conduct, the new courtesy buttons can help riders better identify which customers need seats. The campaign also encourages customers, as a matter of courtesy, to give up any seat – not just those in reserved “priority” areas – to customers wearing an MTA-issued button.

Customers who are pregnant can choose from a “Baby on Board” button or a “Please Offer Me a Seat” courtesy button, which can also be worn by customers who have disabilities and seniors who choose to wear them.

The MTA will distribute buttons to all users of our system and the initiative will be integrated into our existing courtesy campaigns via transit system advertisements and social media.

The awareness button pilot program is considered to be the first of its kind in the United States.